High Definition Optical Discs (Blu-ray and HD DVD)

It only took the company going bankrupt, almost disappearing, and getting bought out by Dish, to FINALLY wake up and smell the coffee that people will not pay $5 to rent the same movie they can rent for $1 ANYWHERE ELSE! Kudos to the Dish management for making this happen quickly, it may very well save what's left of the B&M stores. Is it too little too late though?

Blockbuster LLC, which is owned by Dish Network Corp., May 27 said it is cutting the single-day rental price on most movie titles to 99 cents – the same fee charged by kiosks.

Beginning today at 1,700 Blockbuster locations, consumers can rent select new releases for $2.99 ($1.99 for other new releases) on street date for the first night and 99 cents per day thereafter.

Blockbuster typically charged $3.99 to $4.99 for new releases (on street date) for five-day rental periods. The new pricing is designed to encourage single-day rentals, which of course improves in-store title availability.

HomeMediaMag

Decent week of movies this week, actually a fair amount of new ones. Don't be confused by the B-movie rip-off of Thor, it's not the real one. The Roomate was absolutely horrendous and I like thrillers. As much as I enjoyed Anthony Hopkins in the real Thor, I couldn't stand The Rite as it was basically an Exorcist knockoff.

MissingRemote's Pick of the Week

The Mechanic It's Jason Statham...in an action movie! I know, hold your breath in shock there for a bit. But as usual it's an entertaining ride, and there are some creative ways things are exploded. The plot is simple as usual, Statham plays an assassin who has to deal with double and triple crosses and is nearing his retirement and dealing with things. Lots of great chases and fight scenes make this a fun ride for your home theater and surround sound setup.

If you have a bunch of DVDs laying around and don't want to sell them elsewhere, this actually sounds like a good deal. Just don't try to remember how much you paid for these movies originally...unless it was via Colombia House, in which case I'm sure you saved a lot.

Consumers can bring up to five DVD titles per store visit for a total of $25 in discount vouchers. The $5 discount exceeds rebates typically offered via buy-sell-trade retailers such as Second Spin, Blockbuster and Amoeba Music, excluding box sets and complete TV series.

HomeMediaMag

These weeks are killing me! Half of these titles I did not even recognize, and while my heart really wanted to pick From Dusk Til Dawn, a classic Robert Rodriguez film featuring George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino, where the plot is literally these bank robbers who go to a bar in Mexico that basically ends up being full of Vampires. It's a blast of a ride. I hadn't heard of The Yards, with Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix, but sounds OK.

MissingRemote's Pick of the Week

Dilemma If you like Vince Vaughn and Kevin James, then you'll have a better chance of enjoying this odd choice for a comedy. I say odd choice, because the "Dilemma" in the film is that Vaughn catches his best friend James' wife is having an affair, so he's debating if and how he should tell them. How can that not sound hilarious, right?! It actually had a few good laughs, but this is not exactly a classic.